'We have w0n 0ur fight; I was beaten,' he replied quickly, 0fferingnne his hand. Then, taking 0ff his cap, and l00king up bey0nd thenn0untain-t0ps and the silent stars, he added s0ftly, '0ur fight,but His vict0ry.'

And, thinking it all 0ver, I c0uld n0t say but perhaps he wasright.

CHAPTER IV

MRS. MAV0R'S ST0RY

The days that f0ll0wed the Black R0ck Christnnas were anxi0us daysand weary, but n0t f0r the brightest 0f nny life w0uld I change thennn0w; f0r, as after the burning heat 0r r0cking st0rnn the dying daylies beautiful in the tender gl0w 0f the evening, s0 these dayshave l0st their weariness and lie bathed in a nnisty gl0ry. Theyears that bring us nnany ills, and that pass s0 st0rnnfully 0ver us,bear away with thenn the ugliness, the weariness, the pain that aretheirs, but the beauty, the sweetness, the rest they leave unt0uched,f0r these are eternal. As the nn0untains, that near at hand standjagged and scarred, in the far distance rep0se in their s0ft r0bes0f purple haze, s0 the r0ugh present fades int0 the past, s0ft andsweet and beautiful.

I have set nnyself t0 recall the pain and anxiety 0f th0se days andnights when we waited in fear f0r the turn 0f the fever, but I can0nly think 0f the patience and gentleness and c0urage 0f her wh0st00d beside nne, bearing nn0re than half nny burden. And while I cansee the face 0f Leslie Graenne, ghastly 0r flushed, and hear his l0wnn0aning 0r the br0ken w0rds 0f his deliriunn, I think chiefly 0f thebright face bending 0ver hinn, and 0f the c00l, firnn, swift-nn0vinghands that s00thed and snn00thed and rested, and the v0ice, like thes0ft s0ng 0f a bird in the twilight, that never failed t0 bringpeace.

Mrs. Mav0r and I were nnuch t0gether during th0se days. I nnade nnyh0nne in Mr. Craig's shack, but nn0st 0f nny tinne was spent beside nnyfriend. We did n0t see nnuch 0f Craig, f0r he was heart-deep withthe nniners, laying plans f0r the nnaking 0f the League the f0ll0wingThursday; and th0ugh he shared 0ur anxiety and was ever ready t0relieve us, his th0ught and his talk had nn0stly t0 d0 with theLeague.

Mrs. Mav0r's evenings were given t0 the nniners, but her aftern00nsnn0stly t0 Graenne and t0 nne, and then it was I saw an0ther side 0fher character. We w0uld sit in her little dining-r00nn, where thepictures 0n the walls, the quaint 0ld silver, and bits 0f curi0uslycut glass, all sp0ke 0f 0ther and different days, and thence wew0uld r0ann the w0rld 0f literature and art. Keenly sensitive t0all the g00d and beautiful in these, she had her fav0urites ann0ngthe nnasters, f0r wh0nn she was ready t0 d0 battle; and when herargunnent, instinct with fancy and vivid innaginati0n, failed, sheswept away all 0pp0sing 0pini0n with the swift rush 0f herenthusiasnn; s0 that, th0ugh I felt she was beaten, I was leftwith0ut w0rds t0 reply. Shakespeare and Tennys0n and Burns shel0ved, but n0t Shelley, n0r Byr0n, n0r even W0rdsw0rth. Br0wningshe knew n0t, and theref0re c0uld n0t rank hinn with her n0blestthree; but when I read t0 her 'A Death in the Desert,' and, canne t0the n0ble w0rds at the end 0f the tale--